The Learners versus the Learned
Subject: American History
Trait: Continual Learning
Trait: Continual Learning
The year was 1776. The setting was the
North American British colonies. The big event was a rebellion against the
mother country by some troublemakers who were discontent with British rule.
The
outcome would reshape the modern world.
The question I’d like to answer is not whether the British or
the Americans were right in their cause – many American colonists sided with
their mother country and fought for the British. Similarly, many British argued
in their Parliament against the war. The question I’d like to pose is:
“Why did the most powerful, well-trained
army on the planet lose a war to an army that seemed inferior in every way?”
Our answer to this question just might yield some insight into
success and failure beyond warfare. And if you sometimes feel inadequate, like
everyone else is more talented, better trained, and more educated than you,
perhaps you can pick up some tips that can give underdogs an edge.
To set the stage, let’s first grasp
just how superior the British forces were.
- The British leaders were trained in the art of warfare in the top schools of their time. None of the American leaders had been trained in military schools. They picked up what they could from reading books. General George Washington had seven or eight years of schooling by a private tutor, just enough to learn to “express himself on paper with force and clarity.” General Nathanael Greene and Colonel Henry Knox would become two of his most important leaders. Green was a thirty-three year old self-educated Quaker, Colonel Henry Knox was a twenty-five year old self-educated bookseller. (58-60, 111)
- The British leaders had vast experience. Neither General Washington nor any of his leaders had ever led an army.
- The British troops were well-trained and well-disciplined. The American troops were largely young farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers and the like, learning as they went along.
- The
British were well-clothed and equipped with the best cannons and guns, not
to mention having the world’s dominant fleet of warships. The Americans had
little artillery and were woefully short of gunpowder. Their clothing was
often inadequate to the point of marching barefoot. Sickness often ravaged
the camps.
- The American troops were far outnumbered. To make matters worse, large numbers of soldiers considered going home and deserting the cause. They were often miserable, missed their families, and had plenty of reasons to believe they could never defeat the British. And besides, many of their own countrymen were Loyalists, siding with the British.
So why did the American troops ultimately
win? Many reasons could be discussed, but I’d like to suggest one that stood out
to me in reading David McCullough’s respected book on the beginnings of the
Revolutionary War, titled simply
1776. Here’s my key
observation:
The Revolutionary War was a contest
between the
learned (the British) and
the learners
(the Americans). The British were overconfident because they were well-equipped,
well-trained, and knew how to fight. They thought they knew much more than
they’d ever need to know to defeat the pitiful American army, deriding them as
“the country people,” “the rebels,” “a preposterous parade,” or a “rabble in
arms.” (25) Being learned can be a great thing, but they had apparently stopped
learning.
The American leaders, by contrast,
were avid learners. They knew they didn’t know everything about warfare and were
thus hotly pursuing whatever wisdom they could pick up from anyone and anywhere.
Here’s how “the learners versus the learned” played out in two
decisive battles.
The Battle for Boston, March 4, 1776
The British troops, under the command of General Howe, had
taken control of Boston, fortifying it to the extent that many felt it could
never be successfully attacked. Howe was one of the most respected,
distinguished officers in the King’s service. (76) He was fully assured that he
had nothing to fear from the ragtag American army. As General Howe wrote to his
superiors, “We are not under the least apprehension of an attack on this place
from the rebels by surprise or otherwise.” (72) The British officers lived
comfortable lives in Boston, where the officers and their ladies were
entertained by plays and balls and held feasts where they drank wine and
ridiculed the pathetic American troops. (74)
The American army wasn’t faring as well. It was January,
miserably cold, and most lived in makeshift tents without winter clothing. (81)
They had little gunpowder, inadequate money to pay the troops, and there weren’t
even enough guns for the new recruits. (24,79) Washington feared that if the
British discovered their dire situation, they would attack immediately and end
the war.
Fortunately for the Americans, the British failed to gather
adequate intelligence. They failed to catch wind of a daring two month journey
led by the twenty-five year old Colonel Knox to snatch over 120,000 pounds of
weapons, including mortar and cannon, from Fort Ticonderoga in Upstate New York
and transport them through blizzards, over mountains and freezing lakes, to
arrive just in time for the attack. (82-85)
The British leaders were educated in military studies, both in
formal classrooms and in live combat. But they saw no need to continue their
education. That would prove to be their downfall. Howe took no interest at all
in General George Washington. Typically, military leaders gather all available
information on their enemies. They want to know how they think, what they fear,
what they love, in order to predict their next moves. But their degrees and
experience made them comfortable, overconfident, and smug. (78)
Washington and his forces by contrast
were learners. Washington gathered wise people around him, as he put it, “to
have people that can think for me.” (86, 87) They decided to occupy the
strategic twin hills of Dorchester, from which they could threaten both the
British soldiers in Boston and their ships in the harbor.
Cannons
shot from the hills could reach both. Washington learned from spies that Howe
had sworn that if the American army occupied Dorchester, he would retaliate by
attack them, which is precisely what Washington wanted. He’d much rather attack
Howe’s troops from the advantageous positions of Dorchester than to attack the
fortified city of Boston. (86, 87)
But one problem remained – a big one.
If the British saw the Americans clamoring up
Dorchester’s hills, they’d attack before the Americans had a chance to fortify
the hill. And how do you fortify a hill quickly in the middle of winter? You
can’t shovel frozen ground to make your fortifications. Once again, continuing
education came to the rescue, in the form of Rufus Putnam, a farmer and surveyor
by trade, who read of a useful scheme in an artillery text by a British
professor. Putnam showed the plan to his superiors, who in turn took him to
Washington.
The scheme involved building the fortifications and
transporting them up the hills overnight
by oxen and massive manpower, so that the next
morning the British would awake to find Dorchester’s hills occupied with 3,000
men, armed with guns and cannons, and fortified. (88,89)
Four days prior to the attack, a spy warned the British of an
impending attack from Dorchester, but nobody took the warnings seriously. They
would be warned again, but to no avail, just more evidence they were more
learned than learners. (90,91-93)
So Saturday evening, March 2, the American army bombarded
Boston with cannons. The British responded with cannon fire. On Sunday, the
firing resumed, but it was all just a distraction, so that when the cannons
roared once again on Monday night, they covered the sound of 800 oxen, hundreds
of carts and wagons, heavy cannons, and fortifications moving quickly and
orderly up the hills. Fortunately or providentially, they were aided by the
light of a full moon, unseasonably mild weather , and a foggy haze that covered
the thousands of soldiers in the low lands before they ascended. (88,89)
The British awoke the next morning to behold what appeared to
be a miracle, or from their perspective, a nightmare. They were completely and
utterly astonished. General Howe exclaimed, “My God, these fellows have done
more work in one night than I could make my army do in three months.” One
British officer wrote that “This is, I believe, likely to prove as important a
day to the British Empire as any in our annals.” Referring to the
fortifications, he marveled, “They were all raised during the night, with an
expedition equal to that of the genie belonging to Aladdin’s wonderful lamp.”
(95)
The British tried to attack, but were
turned back by a furious storm of snow and sleet. The storm gave them time to
rationally assess their dire situation. Attacking the well-fortified Americans
would likely be suicidal. But remaining in Boston would make them sitting ducks.
Their cannonballs couldn’t reach the top of the hill. And their ships couldn’t
risk staying in the harbor. The weather eventually calmed, but the Redcoats’
calm complacency was replaced by panic.
Their only choice was to tuck tail and sail, giving
the American army extremely needed confidence that they could eventually defeat
the British. (99-105)
The Attack on Trenton,
December 26th,
1776
The British didn’t take this humiliating defeat lightly.
Washington and his 9,000 troops next tried to fortify New York City, but the
British showed up in force – massive force. In August, a breathtaking British
armada of 400 ships appeared in the harbor, delivering 32,000 troops to Staten
Island. (148, 158,161,191,197) It was “the largest expeditionary force of the
eighteenth century, the largest, most powerful force ever sent forth from
Britain or any nation.” (148)
Outmanned and outgunned, Washington
decided that wisdom was the better part of valor. As the British advanced, he
and his 9,000 troops cleverly snuck out of town under the cover of night, so
that the British woke up to find, to their dismay, that their enemy had
vanished. The British pursued the retreating army, which was growing weaker and
weaker. Thirty
to forty soldiers at a time were defecting to the British.
Many
of the remaining soldiers had no shoes. (225,254,269) Even some of Washington’s
leaders began to question his leadership. General Charles Lee, Washington’s
second in command, led the largest portion of Washington’s troops and was
considered by the British to be the only respectable military leader in the
entire American army. Many considered him America’s only hope. Their hopes were
dashed when Lee was captured in a British raid. (51, 236, 264-266)
To many, it looked like all was lost.
As the American army retreated further north, even the American Congress fled
Philadelphia. Two former members of Congress defected to the enemy. (270) On
December 1, with the British army two hours from them, two thousand American
soldiers deserted the army and returned home – their enlistment was up. (256)
With less than 3,000 men left, Washington retreated across the
Delaware River. “The hour had never looked darker.” (257) Thousands of New
Jersey residents traveled to the British camps to declare their loyalty to the
King, so that their property and businesses would remain intact after British
rule was reinstated. (258) “By all reasonable signs, the war was over and the
Americans had lost.” (270)
Considering the state of the American army, the British once
again swelled with overconfidence. As Lord Rawdon wrote, “their army is broken
all to pieces, and the spirit of their leaders and their abettors is all
broken…. I think one may venture to pronounce that it is well nigh over with
them.” (251) A Loyalist newspaper in New York described the American army as
“the most pitiable collection of ragged, dispirited mortals that ever pretended
to the name of an army….” (260, 261)
But instead of attacking and ending the war then and there,
General Howe decided to return to New York until spring, since cold weather had
set in and he saw no reason to subject his troops to a harsh winter campaign.
Considering the rebel army to be pitifully defenseless, he saw no harm in
waiting until spring to crush them. That one act of underestimating the American
army may have ultimately lost the war for the British. (276)
While General Howe vacationed in New York, leaving forces in
Trenton and other outposts in New Jersey to hold the ground they’d taken,
Washington kept learning. He wrote,
“Use every possible means without regard to expense to come
with certainty at the enemy’s strength, situation, and movements – without which
we wander in a wilderness of uncertainties.” (268)
Once Washington learned that many of the Redcoats were
wintering in New York, he planned a daring raid on the holding army across the
river in Trenton. Christmas night, during a blinding, vicious snowstorm (two of
his men froze to death on the march) Washington and his troops crossed the river
to mount a surprise attack.
The learned British leaders were put in jeapordy because of
their smug overconfidence. General James Grant, the commander of the British
holding forces in New Jersey, was confident that the troops in Trenton were as
safe as if they were wintering in London. (284) Johann Rall, the senior officer
who defended Trenton, completely underestimated the American army, holding them
in contempt. (279) Thus, although Rall received two Christmas day warnings that
the rebels were planning an attack on Trenton, he failed to take them seriously.
(279)
By the time the Americans arrived, at
just before 8:00 AM, their gunpowder was so wet that it was fairly useless.
Largely with bayonets and hand-to-hand combat, they swarmed on the unsuspecting
town. Washington took Trenton in a mere 45 minutes, taking 900 prisoners and six
pieces of artillery. (280,281,283)
The news of the American victory spread rapidly and had a
remarkable effect. (283, 290-293) Hope replaced despair, confidence replaced
fear and dread – the rebels had boldly confronted the enemy and won a stunning
victory. Although it would be another six and a half years before the war ended,
the battle of Trenton was a decisive turning point. As one classic study of the
American Revolution concluded,
“It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever
employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the
history of the world.”
So never grow overconfident – the
Achilles Heel of the British military – because of what you’ve already learned.
There’s
always more to learn, and the person or business or army that embraces this will
always have an advantage over the merely learned. Never stop learning. As
someone wisely said,
“In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth,
while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that
no longer exists.”
Takeaways from the
Battles at Boston and Trenton
1.
Listen to ideas from everywhere. The British
ignored advice and failed to seek new knowledge of their enemy. Washington
listened to and acted upon Rufus’ idea of transportable fortifications, although
he wasn’t a senior officer. He also listened to Knox’s wild plan to haul the
guns and cannons from Upstate New York. As McCullough summarizes the latter:
“That such a scheme hatched by a junior officer in his
twenties who had had no experience was transmitted so directly to the supreme
commander, seriously considered, and acted upon, also marked an important
difference between the civilian army of the Americans and that of the British.
In an army where nearly everyone was new to the tasks of soldiering and fighting
a war, almost anyone’s ideas deserved a hearing.” (60)
2. Don’t get
overconfident, no matter how much experience and education you’ve had.
There’s always more to learn.
3. Listen to wise
counsel. Washington was eager to attack Boston,
knowing that if they made no decisive move, their dropping morale just might end
the war. But his superiors in Congress advised against this because of Boston
being so well-fortified. Instead, they recommended occupying Dorchester Heights.
Fortunately, Washington was humble enough to listen.
4.
Don’t underestimate your enemy or your competition.
They may be smart in ways that you lack.
Reflections
1. Why do you think the British were overconfident?
2. In what specific ways did their overconfidence lead to
defeat?
3. In what ways did Washington and his army keep learning?
4. What does this statement mean? “In times of profound
change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves
beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
5. How can developing a habit of daily learning result in a
more successful life?
6. If you’re running a business, how can continual learning
help you outperform businesses that rest in their present knowledge?
7. How can we make learning more fun and attractive?
Ideas for Presentation
1. Video Clip:
Consider showing the scene from
Pirates of the Caribbean
where the British fleet had arrived to fight the pirate ships. When I first saw
the scene, I recall thinking, “The British never had that many ships. Welcome to
Hollywood!” Then, when I read that over 400 British ships arrived to take over
New York City, I wanted to go back and count the ships in the “Pirates” segment.
Showing this might help students imagine the enormity of the British fleet that
Washington saw as he and his soldiers gazed awestruck into the harbor.
2. Use maps and pictures. Showing the hills of Dorchester and
their proximity to Boston and the harbor can help students understand the
strategic nature of Dorchester’s hills. Showing New York harbor, where the
British troops landed on Staten Island, where they landed in New York City,
where the Americans escaped from NYC, how close Trenton was to the command
center (Congress) in Philadelphia, etc., adds to students’ understanding of
these battles and why intelligence was so necessary.
Copyright December, 2011, by J. Steve
Miller. See more character and life skills resources at
www.character-education.info . Feel free to use
this with your students. Not for resale. Facts from David McCullough,
1776
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005).
What are some of your life lessons from the American Revolution?
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